Reprinted from April 2007. This past week I was supposed to be in Augusta , Georgia
Last summer I was playing golf almost everyday, including a
regular foursome on Sundays. One of the
guys from that group had us “hooked up” for this year’s Masters Trip, and boy
was I excited at the thought. Each
Sunday morning we would meet at one of the many golf courses in the east
Tennessee area where we thought we could sneak in a couple of coolers of beer
and we’d have plenty of “good-ole boy” fun.
Our golf game didn’t see much improvement, but it was “good times” - as
far as golfing and drinking goes that is.
Thanksgiving Day was the last round of golf that I played
with them, though. An injury to my knee
that I had suffered at work several months earlier had continued to worsen, and
it reached a point that I just couldn’t play any longer. Finally I had to give in to the idea of
sitting out the winter months to give my knee a chance to heal. What took place over the next month was life
changing to say the least - for I began to go to church on Sundays rather than
to the nearest eighteen-hole escape center.
Even though I wasn’t living the life of a Christian, I hungered to be
around “good people” and to learn more about what I didn’t know. Unfortunately my knee didn’t heal much
though, and by mid December it had digressed to a point where I was barely able
to walk, as some of you will remember.
Most of you know, last December I asked God to forgive me of
my sins and take control of my life, (we all know that there are many that ask
the prior, but not the latter and it becomes a vicious cycle of returning to
the same sin that they have succumbed to for years) and this is when several
things changed drastically! First of
all my heart was healed, secondly my knee was healed, and thirdly my desires
were transformed to His desires. Guess
what, His desires didn’t include me going to the Masters Tournament, and
hanging out with my former golf/drinking buddies. Instead He had a much richer experience
planned for me this past week.
The week started out with a Palm Sunday Church service, and
a deeply engraved message from God through our pastor. Wednesday night’s
service brought about an unorthodox message from the same pastor, and a
personal calling for me to do more in His service. Thursday evening there was the Seder
Passover meal (a traditional Jewish communion service) and a true learning
experience provided by two wonderfully gifted men of God. Friday night, and our LIFE group meeting
(Prayer/Bible study) then my participation in the 24-hour prayer service at our
Church. My scheduled time was from
12:45am to 2am. On the way to Church to
pray, I was simply hoping that I would be able to stay focused for more than an
hour of prayer in the middle of the night.
At 3:20 in the morning I walked out of the building. I looked at my watch and began to praise God
for how much time had elapsed as I had prayed for one situation after another
for my extended church family. This may
seem trivial to some, but when you go as long as I did without praying, you get
a little out of practice. Try this -
mentally add 19 years to your age (if you’re 40 now, then say you would be 59
years old) and ask yourself, what it would be like if you never said another
prayer until you reached that age. Not a
single one, regardless of your circumstances.
Tough to imagine isn’t it?
Anyway, back to last week - Sunday came and a 6:30am Sunrise
Service, which was beautiful both in song and spirit. The sun rose above the hills and trees
around 7:15 despite the unusual twenty-six degree weather that morning. A pancake breakfast, good conversation, and
a personal prayer session in the sanctuary tithed me over until the routine
worship service began, (which as usual is anything but a routine service). Once home again I turned on golf and watched
a relatively unknown kid from Iowa win the greatest of all golfing events, and
declare before a worldwide television audience that Jesus was his risen Savior
this Easter Sunday. What a simple, but
fearless testimony! We can all wish
that we would do the same, given the opportunity.
The title of this journal entry is deceptive in a way. “The Masters” not as in the golf tournament,
but as in The Master plural, with the recognition that we choose as to which master
we serve. What I came to recognize
this week was that The Masters isn’t a golf event, but rather a lifestyle, a
focus, a direction, a commitment to serve others through Him. The Masters goes on 365 days a year in our
lives with the choices we make as to what our priorities are. I heard a pastor recently talk about the
trap that he had fallen into with spending so much time watching ESPN broadcast
of such things as fishing tournaments, professional poker playing, and reruns
of sports news that he had just watched a few hours earlier. Masters!
Our jobs, our businesses, our children, our money, our
worries, our golf-game, our televisions, our “religion,” our whatever - all Masters in one way or another that
distract us from living out God’s will for our lives. Which will you choose to serve today? As for me, and my household……
Dear Father, help me to be focused on You each day, and not
on the many Masters that avail themselves, or thrust themselves upon me. I want to be known by You as a great champion
of faith, and deeds to receive a white robe when the course has been completed,
as opposed to the green jacket that this world has to offer. Amen
Doug
